By Web Or By The String Of A Yoyo
by sctwilightvampwolfgal
Summary: Marinette wasn't entirely sure where she was now, just that the Akuma that she'd been facing off against led her here.
1. Chapter 1

The buildings managed to make her miss home more than she'd even imagined possible though it definitely didn't help in the least that she'd stumbled over here somehow in the middle of what had to be one of the most complicated Akumas that she'd ever faced or the fact that she'd never really traveled outside of Paris or to a different country before.

Marinette's fingers chilled under the wind though it became more of a sign of her sudden nerves as she walked across the sidewalk, detransformed, and a little unsure of herself or where to begin on finding her way back home.

She missed the casual flair of Paris, the way the city just beckoned to her like the home that she'd always known within it.

Tikki was carefully nestled by her heart for the moment to ward against the chill of the wind that will hopefully die down soon and just in case she needed her in a pinch in this unknown city.

Marinette's eyes couldn't help but trace up a shadow on a building that flickered gone nearly as fast as it had arrived, and she found herself watching what looked to be a man slinging through the city on webs or something of a similar color and style.

His suit was mostly red, and she found herself reminded of how it felt to swing through Paris, how the thrill of catching air just a second before landing safely made her heart race during quiet patrol evenings.

She wondered if he ever felt nearly as at home or even adventurous as she felt when she swung through Paris by the aid of her trusty yoyo. Ladybug loved to make her way past the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of Paris and doubted that any city no matter how long she'd have to stay there would feel like Paris did to her, like home felt.

Marinette's eyes caught the figure as he made his way past another building and then up, up, and away from her line of sight. Her breath caught in her throat as the reality that she'd be sharing this city, this temporary place of residence, with what was likely to be another hero.

Too bad though that Cat Noir wasn't here to join her.


	2. Chapter 2

It felt frigid at night as she huddled as close as she could with Tikki still nestled against her chest on an empty park bench in whatever city she found herself in as she huddled close all that she could think about was how much she missed her bed back home, how she'd never had to wonder about where to find food, or what to do.

If she hadn't been so stressed or worn out, she might have found the city beautiful in its own way and found inspiration from tall building to tall building from interesting sight to interesting sight, but she couldn't work up the energy to let herself be inspired.

"Ti-Tikki, where are we?" She found herself murmuring, trying to be soft though she wasn't sure if she had the energy to care whether anyone around found her crazy or not.

"I don't know, Marinette." It was all the answer that Tikki gave, and Marinette found herself worn out but not really tired enough to sleep.

She stood up, "Do you mind transforming, so that we could get a good look around?" Marinette wasn't entirely sure whether or not, the citizens here would freak out at seeing another superhero, think of her as a villain, or what they'd do. Ladybug wouldn't mean anything to them.

She just hoped that everyone was asleep or at least most of them as Tikki told her that they could.

* * *

Swinging across this unknown city with people that she was even less familiar with left her more than a little nervous, and yet with every slip on an unfamiliar rooftop or every fumble or every single time that she got lost, she could only think of her home, a city that rarely caused her to stumble if an Akuma wasn't involved.

Ladybug had grown used to swinging through Paris and yet this city, whatever the people called it, was not her home, not the city that taught her what being a superhero was like. She learned to swing and run across Parisian rooftops, not these ones.

She worried that she wouldn't be able to understand this place, wouldn't know exactly how to get past all of this, and yet she was almost more worried about meeting that other superhero and getting past the shock of it all.

What if he found her to be a supervillain and tried to defeat her? She wasn't sure that if that happened that she'd be familiar enough with this unknown city to win.


	3. Chapter 3

"That's awesome!" He cheers, and she can nearly imagine the perfect way his eyes light up with that exuberant energy that he seemingly possesses if she could just see more past the suit, "You're like me." When his voice comes out in a gentle, awed tone, she tries to hold back some of her pride since her mind should be working out ways to get home rather than being caught up in whatever this was.

"I'm Ladybug." A part of her misses Cat Noir like she'd never would have believed before, because standing before another superhero, one that seems to be different from them, is not quite the same as having her dorky partner that always was her favorite kind of support system beside her.

"I'm Spiderman." The man before her speaks with the steady ease and brush of excitement that fits him far too well, "So you're bug based like me?"

"Of course." It feels weird to address another superhero, almost like her experience was strictly reserved for Rena Rouge, Cat Noir, and the Grand Guardian, Master Fu, and as of now, she'd never been out of that mostly comfort zone kind of range.

"It seems perfect in a way that we'd meet, right?" Spiderman stares up at her, and she ignores how unnerved this all makes her feel, "Oh, wait! Why are you here? What does that mean for me?" He looks almost nervous, scared to death in a way as if she'd just filed a 'Spiderman replacement application' which she did not in fact do.

"We'll probably take up patrolling the city together for a while until I can find my way back home." She remembers the flash of light and the prickly feeling of being pulled through what must have been a portal of some kind. It felt like her skin had been being eaten alive and that she had to deal with something way worse than she'd ever imagined within those few, short moments. It felt both fast and slow, dizzying with a hint nausea mixed in that she was not excited to deal with.  
It at least told her what the Akuma's special plan for her had been. 'Have fun, Ladybug, in a world where they don't need you.' She could just imagine Hawkmoth's anger at failing to get her Miraculous yet again.

"That would probably be fine. Back home?" Spiderman looked nervous again, and she wondered what he must be filling his head with as far as her home was concerned.

"Yeah," Ladybug sighed, "I'm from Paris in what might be a parallel world if that makes sense?" She stammered, "Because, I don't remember you or anything similar in my world. I just kind of got sent here by an angry supervillain that wouldn't stop talking about how the world is bigger than we say it is and fiction isn't as fictional as it's supposed to be. He said something about The Avengers? And some robot, alien things, and a bunch of other weird stuff that sound like comic book weird dimensional stuff that made no sense to me. I'm more of a gamer than a superhero comic book reader, but my friend back home might have known of you in a way."

"That sounds cool." Spiderman took a deep breath, "Except, we'd be comic book characters back in your world?"

"Probably. The only person I know that is a comic book hero is Majestia. Have you heard of her? My friend's a big fan." Ladybug couldn't stop her nervous ramble as the idea of not being able to go home hit her square in the chest.

"No?" Spiderman asked, "I've never heard of a Majestia. But I could ask around?"

"Don't bother then. She's probably not real here anyway." Ladybug admitted, nerves making her almost self conscious even though she probabvly didn't have to be in front of Spiderman. They were both superheroes; weird alternate realities shouldn't be far out of their grasp of reason, she hoped anyway.

"Okay...?" Spiderman answered, "So what time will you patrol here?"

"I'll take morning shift. I need to find a place to stay anyway." Ladybug sighed; morning patrols sounded weird to her, but she was banking on them sounding even weirder for Spiderman. He seemed about her age anyway.

"Alright. Sure." He still looked at her as if she were some alien or at least that's the way it felt to her before he took off to finish his likely patrol route, leaving her alone to try to sort out some way of getting home again that likely wasn't even going to work like her last three hadn't.


	4. Chapter 4

It isn't fun to be woken up bright and early in a place that you still didn't know too well. "Marinette, time for patrol." Tikki murmured, and she was so glad that they'd managed to come across the day before a nice baker's couple that gave them some sweets.

They almost reminded her of her mom and dad which sort of stopped her short, but she'd smiled and thanked them and pretended that her heart didn't hurt. As soon as she and Tikki had gotten to a place where no one could see them, they'd rationed up the sweets between them.

Marinette missed home so much more than she'd known possible; it felt like a hollow ache in her chest, and she couldn't wait until something worked. Attempt number four would be today.

Cat Noir had to have defeated that Akuma by this point, but he didn't have her there to purify it and asking Hawkmoth to do so was not only impossible, but he'd probably refuse anyway.

She wondered if he had any idea where she'd gone. Either way, today was the day that hopefully, she'll succeed. Once transformed, she took a path through the city not far from the park bench that she'd been calling home.

The sunlight shone and sparkled on the buildings and she let that kind of be her guide. With every step, she tried to forget her homesickness and just how lost and confused she felt in this big, nameless city.

Ladybug paused before some tall buildings and looked out over the city, finding a long expanse of water, sparkling in the sun, and a little farther out, The Statue Of Liberty. "Oh," She mumbled as it suddenly became clear to her that they were in New York.

"It's America." She muttered, half to herself, just to find words to express her surprise as she finally shook her head and continued on. Trying to forget that that wasn't even remotely close to Europe. It wasn't as simple as taking a train back home which had been one of her game plans before.

Why couldn't it have been England or something? England's close to France, but Ladybug was a superhero, her main focus was not on whether she should be able to take a train back home. It probably wouldn't have worked much anyway since she was still pretty sure that she was in a world that was supposed to be fictional as she spun around and made her way past train stations and airports and apartment buildings that she couldn't stay at without having 'dollars' or at least she's pretty sure that that's what American money is called anyway.

Ladybug kept on going until she was sure that she was almost back to what she'd been calling home every night for a couple of nights, a solitary park bench that sadly a man was now sitting at. Feeling more alone than ever, she dropped down into a discarded alleyway and transformed back into Marinette behind a dumpster.

Attempt number four had been a flop, "Hurry up, Cat Noir." She murmured to herself for only the small amount of peace of mind that it gave her.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sweetie, you do have a home, right?" Her light green-blue eyes were wide with worry, "Are you a runaway?"

Marinette shivered as turned her attention to the woman, feeling Tikki's paw against her heart, reassuring her, and helping her know whether it really would be okay. Without Tikki, she wasn't sure what she'd do in this city so far from home.

"I-I'm not a runaway?" She tried to say it the way the woman had, rolling off the tongue, stumbling though not by too much, "I-I have no home here." Marinette hoped that sounded okay; she always felt less comfortable trying to speak English without Tikki with her, making the language roll off of her tongue easier. Tikki had been many places before, learned many languages, and never had Ladybug felt more grateful for that than now. What little she remembered from English class with no real confidence to speak was her lifeline when she wasn't transformed.

She knew the basics, but not by a whole lot.

"Where are you from?" The woman sat down by her side, and she could tell that the woman understood somehow that Marinette didn't belong in New York at all.

"France." She stammered, remembering the English word for her home country just barely, "Paris." They did say it the same way, right? If not, hopefully they understood the way, the almost affectionate way, that she'd just named her home city.

"Oh," The woman murmured, "You're lost." It's the simple way that she says it, and somehow Marinette likes that tone of voice, the slight inflection, the kind of deep pain that doesn't seem to need voiced too much, "I'm Edna-Naomi." When the woman smiles, Marinette can see the lines on her face with how often she must have smiled even younger.

"Yeah, I'm lost." Marinette tries out, and then tries to find just the right words to go on, "I-I am Marinette." She stammers and hopes that that says enough about her without saying much at all.

"Marinette." The woman says, and it's so simple and yet kind of sweet. "Here." Edna stands up as she goes back over to her husband, speaks to him for a moment, and comes back over with some bread that they must have baked from the bakery.

She's not quite sure exactly what the woman wants to give her until she comes back, "Bread." She smiled, "I can set you up a place to sleep at? I'd hate to see you freezing on that park bench."

Marinette isn't sure whether the woman's just an angel in disguise or if she's somehow a lot like her parents probably would have been. Her parents would have made sure that if someone was starving or really hungry, they'd feed them. It wasn't too much of a stretch for them to offer a place to stay if someone needed one, and they knew that the person wouldn't hurt them.

"Y-Yes, Edna." She can feel Tikki's reassuring presence near her heart, and it's enough to make her feel just a little bit more confident. Tikki would have let her know if she couldn't trust this woman.

"William's my husband." She smiled, and somehow Marinette could see the kindly face of a mother in her though she wasn't sure if that was her homesick heart speaking or not. Edna led the way, and Marinette with Tikki's reassuring warmth and the memory of when the woman and her husband had given her some sweets yesterday fresh on her mind, she followed.

Marinette still when she looked up saw her mother somewhere in Edna's light brown-blond hair that was quickly fading to gray, and her father in the tall-ish man that they were walking towards. Even though they didn't look quite like her parents, something about them reminded her strongly of Sabine and Tom.

* * *

The room upstairs would not be ready before tomorrow as they moved their daughter's stuff carefully away and tried to make room for Marinette to eventually sleep up there though for now they'd pulled down some old blankets and adjusted the pillows on the couch for Marinette to sleep on.

The whole house smelled like Marinette's bakery home with the rich smell of bread wafting through the air even to the apartment and the sweet smell of chocolate and sugar and the homey-familiar smell of flour. It was bittersweet, because even though it smelled so much like home, it wasn't at all her home.

Tikki only nestled closer to her chest until finally the lights were out with an early bedtime for the baking couple, so that they'd be up to open their bakery and start baking come morning time when tired men and women would swing by for a sweet boost to start their day off.

The couch felt heavenly compared to the bench that she'd already slept on twice, and as Tikki slipped out to properly speak to her, Marinette wasn't entirely sure if she'd started crying or just felt about ready to.

"Marinette, it will be okay." Tikki nuzzled up against her cheek and sent an encouraging smile her way, "They seem nice, and besides Cat Noir and Master Fu are working hard to bring you back home. I'm sure of it."  
Marinette smiled at her Kwami though if it was a little wilted and a lot more sad than she'd intended, Tikki didn't say a word about it. The teenager felt tired from every inch of her bones and then some. She felt like she needed a long nap and a chance to finally feel well rested for once since she'd came here.

If she couldn't do a morning patrol tomorrow, hopefully Spiderman will be none the wiser. Marinette wasn't sure if she really wanted to get to know him any better when all that she could think about was wanting to get back home, of trying to find a way back, and of the Akuma that ended her halfway decent day back home and made everything feel like one, big, disappointing mess.

The Fictional Seer wasn't an easy Akuma by a long shot though she wished that her Lucky Charm would have given her some kind of clue before then and yet it hadn't, just kind of served as a warning that she hadn't heeded.

A small sign had fallen into her hand, and Marinette couldn't bother as the memory came to mind to try to read what it had said, something in English no doubt, that she hadn't really understood back then. She didn't feel like she had near enough energy to actually try to remember what those words meant on that sign, to remember every last detail of that dreadful Akuma fight that led her worlds and miles away from her home, her warm bed, her loving parents, her faithful partner, and her best friends.

New York felt nothing like Paris to her, not when she was lost, and all that she wanted was home.


End file.
